When Jesus was in Jerusalem, He usually spent the night in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. Tonight, on the eve of the great Sabbath, He did the same.
How Jesus had longed to eat the Passover Lamb with His friends. And how much He had taught them this very evening about the mysteries of His kingdom: ‘…the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves’ (Luke 22:26). Had He not always led the way in this, every single day?
But now, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus could not sleep. No, gone was the joy of the Passover. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death…’ His three closest friends He entrusted with this, ‘Stay here and keep watch!’ Then, going a little farther, He fell to the ground and prayed that - if possible - the hour might pass from Him. ‘Yet not what I will, but what You will!’
How the Son submitted to the Father! What anguish for Him, Who could do nothing without the Father (John 5:19), to die the Godforsaken death on the cross…
When He returned to His disciples, He found them sleeping. ‘Could you not keep watch for one hour?’
No, this struggle He fought alone, as the Lamb of God Who came to take away the sins of the world.
Once more he went away and cried out to God, but when He returned a third time to His sleeping disciples, He had finished His battle. Wholly submitted to the Father He said, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners.’
Oh, beloved Lamb of God, let us share in Your sufferings in order that we may also share in Your glory (Romans 8:17)!